PRINCEVILLE, HI – Sam Houston State left little doubt it will be well prepared for the championship season come spring.

The Bearkats wrapped their fall campaign, shooting a 54-hole school-record, 30-under, 834, to take sixth at the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational against some of the nation’s elite teams. The Kats finished ahead of three top-50 programs and were three strokes back of No. 5 Wake Forest (831).

Noah Steele made a run at the individual title, taking fifth at 17-under, 199, while setting a new 54-hole program record from the par-72, 7,223-yard Princeville Makai Golf Club. The sophomore (68-64-67) bested Andrew Ertel’s team-best, 11-under, 202, at the 2015 Sam Hall Intercollegiate by three strokes.

Steele finished just four strokes back of the lead, captured by Louisville’s Simon Zach (195), and bested eight top-100 golfers in the process. The Kingston, Ontario, native recorded his highest finish of the season while wrapping the fall with two-straight top-15 results.

Meanwhile, the Kats, who bested a 54-hole school record that stood for five years, climbed as high as third before some late bogies set the team back. Louisville, the nation’s No. 40 team, ran away with the event, carding a tournament record, 56-under, 808.

For a second-straight round, William Holcomb (74-66-68) shot under par, moving ahead 11 spots in his final round to finish tied for 16th at 8-under, 208. The sophomore finished in the top-20 each time out this fall and shot under-par in four of his last six rounds.

Levi Valadez (72-67-75) carded his best score of the fall, finishing at 2-under, 214, to take a tie for 46th. Austen Christiansen (69-73-74) took a tie for 58th at even-par, 216, and Jake McCrory (71-76-75) finished 82nd at 6-over, 222.

Sam Houston returns to action, Feb. 16-18, 2018, beginning the first of five regular-season events at the All-American Intercollegiate from the Golf Club of Houston. The slate leads into the Southland Conference Tournament, held April 23-25 at Stonebridge Country Club in McKinney.

QUOTEABLES:Head coach Brandt Kieschnick on the team’s strong performance in Hawaii… “I am proud to coach these guys and proud of what they did. This is an elite field and they were one of the elite teams there. They rose to the occasion. I love the way they competed and handled themselves. They played like one of the best. I am proud to be part of this program with them. We got off to a great start. It was playing tougher today and was a little windy. We made a couple mistakes coming in but that was really it. We played great and we played great with very few mistakes.”

Head coach Brandt Kieschnick on Noah Steele’s fifth-place result“That’s one of the best performances I’ve seen on a golf course over three days. I think all five of these guys are some of the best golfers in the country and Noah really shined. He had a really good week. It was about as perfect goal as you can play for three days.”

Head coach Brandt Kieschnick on the fall season for the Bearkats…“I couldn’t be more pleased with the fall. We got a win. This is a national event and this should push us forward quite a bit. We wanted to end with a win and end in the top-30 but could possibility be in the top-50. Our goal was to prepare to win championships in the spring. These players are hungry and have a great drive. They aren’t satisfied with where we’re at.”